Law Commons^™

Children With Aids: A Need For A Clear Policy And Procedure For Public Education, Laura F. Rothstein

Laura Rothstein

One cannot open a newspaper, watch the television news, or even watch a favorite sitcom without being aware of the degree to which Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has permeated our society.

Requirements For A Renewables Revolution, Felix Mormann

Felix Mormann

This Article identifies and analyzes the obstacles presently barring the rise of renewables, evaluates the role of the current policy favorite emission pricing, and offers design recommendations for a comprehensive U.S. renewables policy.

Successful climate change mitigation requires a timely shift to renewable sources of energy, such as sunlight, wind or tides, to decarbonize today’s high-carbon electricity sector. But market pull alone is not strong enough. This Article discusses the most widely cited economic barriers and identifies and evaluates additional obstacles related to the electricity sector’s regulatory framework.

Emission pricing is largely considered the most efficient policy to drive the …

Smarter Finance For Cleaner Energy: Open Up Master Limited Partnerships (Mlps) And Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits) To Renewable Energy Investment, Felix Mormann, Dan Reicher

Felix Mormann

This policy proposal makes the case for opening Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) — both well-established investment structures — to renewable energy investment. MLPs and, more recently, REITs have a proven track record for promoting oil, gas, and other traditional energy sources. When extended to renewable energy projects these tools will help promote growth, move renewables closer to subsidy independence, and vastly broaden the base of investors in America’s energy economy.

Mobilizing Public Markets To Finance Renewable Energy Projects: Insights From Expert Stakeholders, Paul Schwabe, Michael Mendelsohn, Felix Mormann, Douglas J. Arent

Felix Mormann

Financing renewable energy projects in the United States can be a complex, time consuming, and expensive process. Currently, most equity investment in new renewable power production facilities is supported by tax credits and accelerated depreciation benefits, and is constrained by the pool of potential investors that can fully use these tax benefits and are willing to engage in complex financial structures. For debt financing, non-government lending to renewables has largely been provided by foreign banks that may be under future lending constraints due to economic and regulatory conditions.

To discuss these and other renewable energy financing challenges and to identify …

Beyond Tax Credits: Smarter Tax Policy For A Cleaner, More Democratic Energy Future, Felix Mormann

Felix Mormann

Solar, wind, and other renewable energy technologies have the potential to mitigate climate change, secure America’s energy independence, and create millions of green jobs. In the absence of a price on carbon emissions, however, these long-term benefits will not be realized without near-term policy support for renewables. This Article assesses the efficiency of federal tax incentives for renewables and proposes policy reform to more cost-effectively promote renewable energy through capital markets and crowdfunding.

Federal support for renewable energy projects today comes primarily in the form of tax incentives such as accelerated depreciation and, critically, tax credits. Empirical evidence reveals that …

Enhancing The Investor Appeal Of Renewable Energy, Felix Mormann

Felix Mormann

This article introduces an investor-oriented framework for the evaluation of renewable energy policy, applies these newly developed criteria to a qualitative comparison of the primary policy instruments, and offers recommendations to enhance the investor appeal of renewable energy in the United States.

The multi-trillion dollar task of scaling renewable energy technologies to mitigate climate change, ensure energy security, and create green jobs is one of the most daunting challenges of the twenty-first century. It is, in fact, too great a challenge for either the public or private sector to shoulder alone. Rather, public policy must catalyze private investment in renewable …

Application Of Default Rules To Address Financial Conflicts Of Interest In Academic Medical Centers, Joanna K. Sax

Joanna K Sax

A recent report issued from the Institute of Medicine contains an extensive analysis of financial conflicts of interest (FCOIs) in biomedical science. In brief, an FCOI exists when a profit-seeking motive either unduly influences or appears to influence an academic scientist’s primary obligations. The cornerstone of current policy to address FCOIs at academic medical centers (AMCs) is disclosure; however, disclosure does not appear to appropriately regulate, manage, or eliminate FCOIs.

Although the relationships between intramural scientists and industry and extramural scientists and industry may be structurally different, they both can lead to FCOIs that threaten scientific integrity. Overall, the NIH …

Extralegal Supreme Court Policy Making, Joelle A. Moreno

Joelle A. Moreno

The Colbert Report aired its final episode on December 18, 2014. Nine years earlier, on the first episode, Stephen Colbert coined the word “truthiness.” Truthiness satirized contemporary disinterest in empirical information in a country increasingly "divided between those who think with their head and those who know with their heart.” Truthiness was not just the Merriam-Webster word of the year. Over the past decade, it has been the unspoken mantra of reporters who give equal time to climate science denialists, faith healers, and vaccine refusers. When Justices of the Supreme Court decide questions of scientific or empirical fact — such …

Color At Century's End: Race In Law, Policy, And Politics, Christopher Edley, Jr.

Christopher Edley

No abstract provided.

Argument From Expert Opinion As Legal Evidence: Critical Questions And Admissibility Criteria Of Expert Testimony In The American Legal System, David M. Godden, Douglas Walton

Douglas Walton

While courts depend on expert opinions in reaching sound judgments, the role of the expert witness in legal proceedings is associated with a litany of problems. Perhaps most prevalent is the question of under what circumstances should testimony be admitted as expert opinion. We review the changing policies adopted by American courts in an attempt to ensure the reliability and usefulness of the scientific and technical information admitted as evidence. We argue that these admissibility criteria are best seen in a dialectical context as a set of critical questions of the kind commonly used in models of argumentation.

Ri Should Target Sex Buyers, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

The Greening Of Canadian Cyber Laws: What Environmental Law Can Teach And Cyber Law Can Learn, Sara Smyth

Sara Smyth

This article examines whether Canadian environmental law and policy could serve as a model for cyber crime regulation. A wide variety of offences are now committed through digital technologies, including thievery, identity theft, fraud, the misdirection of communications, intellectual property theft, espionage, system disruption, the destruction of data, money laundering, hacktivism, and terrorism, among others. The focus of this Article is on the problem of data security breaches, which target businesses and consumers. Following the Introduction, Part I provides an overview of the parallels that can be drawn between threats in the natural environment and on the Internet. Both disciplines …

Law And Public Administration In Ireland, Fiona Donson, Darren O'Donovan

Darren O'Donovan

Extract: It is often said that administrative law is notoriously difficult to study and to teach because its doctrines are abstract and nuanced, moving across a wide array of statutes and aspects of legal practice. This book is an attempt to defend administrative law as an exciting and dynamic subject which is central to meeting the future challenges facing Irish public governance. Law and Public Administration in Ireland inevitably focuses heavily upon judicial review, as the central aspect of the legal regulation of governance, providing a firm backstop against government abuse of power. In our account of the grounds of …

Workshop | Body Worn Video Recorders: The Socio-Technical Implications Of Gathering Direct Evidence, Katina Michael, Alexander Hayes

Alexander Hayes Mr.

- From in-car video recording to body-worn video recording

- Exploring available technologies: how do they work, pros and cons

- Storing direct evidence in secure storage: factors to consider

- Citizens “shooting” back with POV tech – what are their rights?

- Crowdsourced sousveillance- harnessing public data for forensic profiling

- Police force policies and practices on the application of new media

Social Media And The Courts - The Balance Between Open Justice And The Administration Of Justice, Jane Johnston, Patrick Keyzer, Mark Pearson, Sharon Rodrick, Anne Wallace

Anne Wallace Professor

The widespread and pervasive use of social media in Australian society is increasing pressure on courts and tribunals to develop social media policies.

Submission To The Strategic Policy Division, Department Of Defence, On The Development Of The 2013 Defence White Paper, Christopher Rahman

Chris Rahman

This submission on the development of the 2013 Defence White Paper addresses briefly four aspects: 1. The structure and content of the White Paper itself 2. Australia’s strategic environment 3. Australia’s military strategy 4. Force structure

Concepts Of Maritime Security: A Strategic Perspective On Alternative Visions For Good Order And Security At Sea, With Policy Implications For New Zealand, Christopher Rahman

Chris Rahman

This project originated as a research report conducted for the Royal Australian Navy’s Sea Power Centre – Australia. Its intent is not to reprise well‐worn ideas of sea power or maritime strategy, but to address conceptually what is meant by the term “maritime security” in the context of contemporary ideas of the meaning of “security” itself. In doing so, I have purposefully delved into some of the often quite dense and sometimes arcane literature and ideas regarding conceptual treatments of security. This is important, because the ideas inherent in different perspectives on maritime security often have an intellectual or political …

The E-Books Conspiracy: Crossing The Line Between Applying And Creating Law, Tom Campbell

Tom Campbell

This article responds to John Kirkwood’s Collusion to Control a Powerful Customer: Amazon, E-Books, and Antitrust Policy. Professor Kirkwood argued that in a monopsonistic market (i.e., one where there exists one powerful buyer and many less powerful sellers), or a market in which a buyer has significantly more power than the sellers, collusion on the part of the sellers might be justified, and ought to be a defense to antitrust claims, under certain conditions. This article summarizes Kirkwood’s proposed requirements for invoking this defense and argues that they are overly prescriptive, failing to allow certain instances of beneficial collusion, imposing …

Insurance Mandates: Colorectal Cancer Screening Utilization And Racial/Ethnic Disparities, Michael Preston

Michael Preston

Colorectal Cancer is the third most common cancer found in men and women in the United states. In 2014, the American Cancer Society estimates over 136,000 new cases of colorectal cancer and approximately 50,000 deaths. Although the overall death rate for colorectal cancer has decreased over the past 20 years, disparities remain among medically underserved populations.

Steps Toward Safety: Improving Systemic And Community Responses For Families Experiencing Domestic Violence, Leigh Goodmark, Ann Rosewater

Leigh S. Goodmark

This report is designed to mine the lessons learned from the research and reforms in child welfare and domestic violence, as well as explore possibilities for the next generation of innovation.

Evaluation Of Academic Scientists’ Responses To Situations That Pose A Conflict Of Interest, Joanna K. Sax

Joanna K Sax

The industry-academy relationship has many benefits, but it also has potential drawbacks, including potential conflicts of interest (e.g., when the profit motives of a private company unduly influence academic responsibilities). To date, policies intended to regulate or manage financial conflicts of interest appear to be unsatisfying and inadequate. The present study examined predictors of the responses of academic scientists and clinicians to hypothetical situations in which financial and other conflicts of interest may arise. Academic scientists and clinicians at five medical schools completed an anonymous survey that included vignettes that posed a potential conflict of interest. Participants indicated the likelihood …

Navigating Pacific Fisheries: Legal And Policy Trends In The Implementation Of International Fisheries Instruments In The Western And Central Pacific Region, Quentin Hanich, Ben M. Tsamenyi

Quentin Hanich

Navigating Pacific Fisheries analyses the legal and policy context for the conservation, management and exploitation of tuna fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific region.

Social Media And The Courts - The Balance Between Open Justice And The Administration Of Justice, Jane Johnston, Patrick Keyzer, Mark Pearson, Sharon Rodrick, Anne Wallace

Jane Johnston

The widespread and pervasive use of social media in Australian society is increasing pressure on courts and tribunals to develop social media policies.

Elecronic Tax System In Tanzania: Appraisal Of The Legal Basis, Desderius M. Hekwe

DESDERIUS M, Hekwe

To Read Or Not To Read: Privacy Within Social Networks, The Entitlement Of Employees To A Virtual “Private Zone” And The Balloon Theory, Shlomit Yanisky-Ravid

Shlomit Yanisky-Ravid Professor of Law

Social networking has increasingly become the most common venue of self-expression in the digital era. Although social networks started as a social vehicle, they have recently become a major source for employers to track personal data ("screening") of applicants, employees or former employees.

This article addresses the questions of whether this casual business routine harms employees' rights to privacy with regard to data users post in social networks, what the drawbacks of this routine may be, and why and how privacy rights should be protected to secure private zones within the virtual sphere. The article suggests that a privacy right …

Enhancing The Attractiveness Of Research To Female Faculty, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] CSWEP has long been concerned about the underrepresentation of women in faculty positions at major research universities. I have been charged by the committee with enumerating a set of policies that might enhance the attractiveness of research universities to female faculty. After presenting some data that suggest the magnitude of the underrepresentation problem, I do so below. In each case, I sketch the pros and cons of the policy. Although the focus is on increasing the attractiveness of research universities to female faculty, many of the policies would increase the attractiveness of academic careers per se to new female …

Harmonising Australian Environmental Law: An Australian Oceans Act For Australia’S Oceans, G. L. Rose, C. Smythe

Professor Gregory Rose

A synopsis of a dicussion paper canvassing a new national approach to marine management: an Australian Oceans Act and an Australian Oceans Authority. The Australian Conservation Foundation and National Environmental Law Association launched the discussion paper in March 2006 about the future of Australia’s laws for its oceans.

Legal Frameworks For Integrated Marine Environmental Management, G. L. Rose

Professor Gregory Rose

The Australian federal government is rethinking its policy-based approach to integrated marine environmental management. Does effective coordination of oceans management activities require an overarching legislative framework? Should legislation operate to enforce cross-jurisdictional coordination? Can it also assure cross-sectoral integration? This paper explores possible answers to these questions, considering options for a legal framework for integrated marine environmental management in a federal context.

International Legal And Policy Frameworks For Integrated Coastal And Oceans Management: An Initial Analysis, Ben Tsamenyi, Georgia Nogueira De Souza Patu

Professor Ben M Tsamenyi

No abstract provided.

Future Environmental Policy Trends To 2020: Impact On Ship Design And Operation, Cameron Moore, Stuart Kaye, G. Rose, Ben Tsamenyi, Kwame Mfodwo, Linda Munoz, Barry Snushall

Professor Ben M Tsamenyi

The aim of this report is to provide the Royal Australian Navy with a strategic assessment of trends in international and domestic environmental law, policy and standards over the next 20 years, and the extent to which these may impact on future ship design and naval operation.